Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson rejected the idea that former President Donald Trump could pardon himself if elected president in 2024.
Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, appeared on ABC News' This Week on Sunday morning to discuss his candidacy for the presidency. While most Republican candidates have defended Trump amid his myriad of legal issues, Hutchinson has taken a more critical tone toward the former president and is seeking to win support from more traditional anti-Trump conservatives.
Trump recently pleaded not guilty to various charges in both the Department of Justice's (DOJ) classified documents case and the Manhattan case surrounding an alleged hush money payment he made during his 2016 campaign to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Meanwhile, he is facing several probes into his conduct surrounding the 2020 presidential election. Some of his GOP opponents said they would pardon Trump as they seek to strike a balance between differentiating themselves from the ex-president while also not alienating his voter base, who will likely comprise a substantial voting block in the 2024 primary.
Hutchinson, who has previously signaled that he would not pardon Trump, said it would be "unseemly" for him to pardon himself if he wins the 2024 race. He also cast doubt that courts would even allow him to do so.
"From a legal standpoint, from a constitutional standpoint, that is a question that the courts would have to resolve. I'm doubtful of it. I don't think that's what the Constitution intends in giving the president the pardon power. But most importantly, it would be inappropriate, unseemly," he said.
Still, Hutchinson predicted that Trump would likely try to pardon himself if elected.
"I can certainly see Donald Trump doing that. That's exactly what he would intend if he got elected president," he said.
Newsweek reached out to the Hutchinson campaign for comment via email.
Carl Tobias, Chair in Law at the University of Richmond, told Newsweek that Trump pardoning himself would "undermine the rule of law" in a statement on Sunday afternoon.
"Because self-pardons are unprecedented, courts have never be asked to address the question," he wrote. "However, it seems unlikely that federal judges would approve this use of the pardon power for several reasons. Self-pardons would undermine the rule of law, and the framers would not have intended them. More specifically, self-pardons could facilitate an individual president's effort to hold onto power through criminal activity, a result that the Framers would have clearly opposed."
Tobias added that it is "dangerous" for Republican presidential candidates to say they would pardon the former president.
"The candidates' accusations that the DOJ is being weaponized against Trump are dangerous and false," he said.
The former Arkansas governor previously criticized Republican candidates for discussing giving Trump a pardon on the campaign trail.
"It is simply wrong for a candidate to use the pardon power in the United States of the president in order to curry votes, and in order to get an applause line is just wrong," Hutchinson recently told CNN. "That really undermines the rule of law in our country that I've served my lifetime supporting, and it's offensive to me that anyone will be holding out a pardon under these circumstances."
Which GOP Candidates Have Said They Would Pardon Trump?
The question of a pardon for Trump has divided the GOP field.
Former South Carolina Governor and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, who has previously called Trump's alleged actions "reckless," said she would still be inclined to pardon Trump if elected.
"It would be terrible for the country to have a former president in prison for years because of a documents case," Haley said. "So I would be inclined in favor of a pardon."
Other candidates, including entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and talk show host Larry Elder, have also voiced support for pardoning the former president.
"It would be a lot easier for me as a Republican candidate in this race if Donald Trump were not in it, but I don't want to win this election, unlike others, by eliminating our competition by a federal administrative police state arresting my opponents," Ramaswamy said.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have not said whether they would pardon Trump.
Update 06/18/2023, 3:33 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Tobias.
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